Burning Questions About the 2023 Bears

The questions begin building from the second the previous season ends.

Rarely do these questions get totally answered by what happens in the off-season, whether it's during free agency, the draft, OTAs or minicamp.

Most likely, these questions about the Bears won't get answered when GM Ryan Poles talks to the media on Tuesday, as players are reporting for the start of training camp at Halas Hall.

They'll be discussed, touched on but almost all will linger on until answers become apparent during the regular season.

Here are 10 burning questions about the Bears for reporting day.

10. When Does Chase Claypool Negative Cycle End?

When was the last time the Bears could feel positive about the receiver they acquired for the first pick of Round 2 in this draft? It might have been the day they made the trade just before trading deadline last year. It's been negative news about his ability to pick up the offense in the middle of the season, missed practices last year, missed games last year, lack of practice time and game time with Justin Fields, lack of offseason availability due to injuries, modeling overseas and now a spot on the physically unable to perform list one day and then off it the next. The only positive in that time period was when he actually was practicing with Fields and other offensive players earlier this month in Florida, but how could that be considered positive when the end result is he's still injured like he was six weeks ago? When was the last time Claypool's potential as a 6-foot-4, 238-pound, very fast receiver with a vertical leap of 40-1/2 inches was right at the top of what people thought about when his name was mentioned? Is it too soon to ask which week of the regular season he'll return to full health?

9. Is There Time for Offensive Line to Mesh?

They either changed players entirely or swapped out four of the five positions. It takes time for linemen to blend together and work in the scheme. It's a third position in three years for Teven Jenkins, Cody Whitehair returning to center after he hasn't played it in 2 1/2 years, Darnell Wright starting as a rookie and Nate Davis with a new team. How long before they no longer look like the line that got its quarterback sacked 58 times each of the last two years?

8. Is There a Multi-Back on the Premises?

The roster has some talented backs. Khalil Herbert led all NFL backs in yards per carry last yeara and is a breakaway threat but needs to improve as a blocker/receiver. D'Onta Foreman is a power back with more carries than any back on the roster but has never been viewed as a blocker or receiver. Roschon Johnson is a rookie with the type of multiple talents they might want but obviously no experience and definitely not the breakaway speed Herbert has. Travis Homer is a 202-pound third-down back who blocks and catches but doesn't have size to be an every down back. Trestan Ebner barely got on the field last year and didn't show much of anything. It's the multi-back who will eventually get the most plays, the most starts.

7. Is There an Edge Rusher in the House?

It will be a tremendous relief when the Bears know they at least have one pass rusher they can depend on to apply pressure consistently from the edge. There obviously are none now, although DeMarcus Walker has the ability to pester teams from inside and outside at times. Will it be Yannick Ngakoue or Justin Houston they sign? Will they trade for Chase Young?

Something's going on, and the quicker they get this addressed the better. But it's always possible it will go on for a while into training camp while they look at what they have first and maybe to evaluate the health of another player they're considering, like Young.

Whatever happens, 20 sacks last year made it apparent something must happen.

6. How Long for the Passing Duo to Solidify?

Fields to DJ Moore is the threat and everything else on offense should flow from there. First, though, they need to prove it's a thing. Moore, during OTAs, seemed to think within the first week of training camp it will be a thing, and they just need that first week of camp practice to regain the link they forged in minicamp and OTAs, then move forward together.

5. Who's Getting Paid, If At All, and When?

One thing Poles hasn't done as GM is sign someone for a second contract. In fact, until they signed Tremaine Edmunds they hadn't really thrown top dollar at anyone. They liked someone else's middle linebacker enough, and also T.J. Edwards and Nate Davis enough to give them each bigger, multiple-year contracts. Poles didn't get this type of situation resolved with Roquan Smith and David Montgomery. Now he has tight end Cole Kmet, wide receivers Darnell Mooney and Chase Claypool, cornerback Jaylon Johnson and a few others up for deals. He has more money remaining available under the cap this year than any team so is he going to let that burn a hole in his pocket or can he actually give some of it to someone who deserves it. Don't expect Claypool to be one of those when he's injured, and Mooney may need to show he's entirely healthy for a few practices first, as well.

4. Has Fields Really Improved?

It's been repeated over and over again throughout off-season work: Fields is getting the ball out faster.

But is he really?

"I think we're on track," coach Matt Eberflus said at the end of minicamp about Fields getting the ball out faster. "I really do. I really feel good where we are."

It wasn't particularly verifiable by the eye test at practices media members got to watch during the spring. There were instances of hesitation at times.

Fields should know the offense better in Year 2, obviously. He needs to read defenses faster and be on the same page with receivers better. Then he needs to get the ball out faster.

The Bears were too reluctant to pass last year. They can't go through another season throwing 377 times, the fewest number of passes by a team since the 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers. The pass needs to be the way to score. Running is done less than half the time and mostly to salt away games or balance out the passing attack.

3. Is Fields Really the Guy?

Poles was being asked this before the draft and bought time for Fields by saying he is. In reality, it was actually more like, he is ... for now.

The trade they made to move down out of No. 1 provided what they could need to go draft a rookie QB in 2024. So when Poles told everyone Fields is his guy and he has full confidence in him, lurking in the background was the possibility Fields still could get his fifth-year option rejected next spring if he regresses or stalls out this year. Then the Bears might draft a Caleb Williams or Drake Maye.

2. How Severe Is the Cycle of Defeat?

The Bears have lost 10 straight. As much as anything, it becomes a mental thing after so many consecutive losses.

This isn't baseball, where there are 162 games and a 10-game losing streak can be offset over the course of time. Lose 10 straight in the NFL and it's firing time, unless you're already rebuilding. But even rebuilding teams can't put up with repeated defeat.

The Bengals endured two-win and four-win season under coach Zac Taylor before they emerged a playoff team. Do the Bears have the right mental makeup to escape from the cycle of defeat in order to avoid something as devastating as two straight horrible seasons?

Does the coaching staff even have the ability to reverse the losing trend? They stopped a three-game slide last year. A 10-game losing streak is entirely different.

1. Is This Ascension or Second Rebuilding Year?

The Bears changed 12 of the 22 starting positions for this season. They're not all new players but are different.

They did this a year after switching offensive and defensive schemes and starters at 11 positions in Eberflus' first season.

Does all of this change in Year 2 merely mean the rebuild is still in the first stage and the Bears can expect another season of misery?

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